Improvement in cloth-cutting machines



STATES PATENrOFFIcE.

JOHN KENT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMFROVEMENT IN CLOTH-CUTTING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of LettersPatent No. 136,602, dated March l1, 1873.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN KENT, of the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented an Improved Machine for Cutting Ribbed Tops and other Fabrics and Materials 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification.

'Ihe object of this invention is to cut ribbed tops or other fabrics or materials into equal and uniform lengths with rapidity and precision, it being more particularly designed for cutting hosiery webs. The nature of this invention consists, first, in the use of two feeding-rollers, between and by which the fabric or material is fed to the knife, to which said rollers an intermittent motion is imparted by means of a lever lactuated by a cam on the driving-shaft, at one end of which said lever is pivoted a pawl or driver which drives a ratchet-wheel secured at the end of a shaft,

which also carries a gear-wheel that meshes into a gear-wheel secured upon the same shaft as is the lower roller; a spiral spring is attached to the said pawl and said lever, which keeps the former in contact with the said ratchet-Wheel, and a spring which is secured to the bed or frame of the machine presses against the under side of the said lever so as to depress that end of the same to which the said pawl is attached. By means of the above-described arrangement equal lengths of the fabric or material are fed to the knife at each successive stroke of the lever, and these parts already mentioned operate in connection with a gage or graduated sliding wedge or abutment for adjusting and determining the length of stroke of the said lever, and consequently determining the length of material cut olf at each stroke. Secondly, in connection with the parts already mentioned, it consists in a peculiar device for regulating and adjusting the stroke of the knife so that it may be adapted to the texture or quality of the material operated upon, while the latter is fed to the knife in equal and uniform lengths, as above mentioned.

In order that my invention may be readily understood, I will now proceed to a more particular description of the construction and operation of the same, referring to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved machine Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same; and Fig. 3, a detached view ofthe graduated adjustable wedge or abutment.

Similar letters of referenceindicate like parts in al1 the gures. v

Arepresents the frame or bed of the machine; to which the working parts are secured, which may be of suitable forni and dimensions for that purpose. B is the drivin g-wheel to which the power is applied, secured to the drivingshaft G, which latter is provided with the clutches a, operated by the lever b in the or dinary manner, for throwing the machine into and out of gear. If desired, a fast-and-loose pulley may be used for transmitting the power. D is a two-ended lever secured upon the horizontal shaft d, which latter is provided with suitable bearings secured to the frame A. One end of this lever is curved, as seen in Fig. Y2, and is depressed at each revolution of the driv- YYing-wheel by means of the heart-shaped cam E, which is secured upon the driving-shaft C, while the other end ofthe said lever, to which a pawl or driver, F, is pivoted, is raised simultaneously by the `same means. One end of a spiral spring, G, is attached t0 the pawl F, and the other end of the said spring is similarly secured to the lever I), by which means the said pawl is kept in contact with a ratchet-wheel, H, and made to engage with the same when that end of the lever D to which the pawl is attached begins its upward movement, the

shaft, c, having suitable bearings secured to the frame A. Upon this shaft e is also secured a gear-wheel, Hf, which meshes into another gear-wheel secured upon the end of the shaft latter shaft has bearings in the uprights K K', which are secured to the frame A. The roller I is made of wood or other suitable material having a friction-surface. right K is a spring, f, the lower end of which presses against the roller I, so that the latter remains stationary except when the ratchetdriver F. I is a metal roller, which is located immediately above the roller I and rests upon said ratchet-wheel H being secured upon a` upon which the lower roller I is secured. ThisV Secured to the upwheel H is being rotated by the pawl or .fai

'the same, its journals' fitting and moving in vertical slots provided in the uprights K and K', so that the said roller I has a free upward and downward movement to accommodate itself to the thickness of the material passing between the rollers, and upon the shaft or thc journal of this roller I is a gear-Wheel, which meshes into another gear-wheel, L, upon the shaft of the roller I. That end of the lever D to which the pawl F is attached rests upon an adjustable abutment, g, in which position it is retained by means of a spring, h, which presses upon the under side of the other end of the said lever until the cam E is brought to bear upon the same, when the end of the lever carrying the pawl is'raised, and, the said pawl being made to engage with the ratchet-wheel H, the latter makes a partial revolution, as does also the lower roller I, by which means a cert-ain length of the material is fed to the knife M. The adjustable abutment gis graduated so as to give a longer or a shorter stroke of the lever, and consequently the ratchet and rollers are moved through a longer or shorter space, and a longer or shorter length of the material is fed at each stroke of the lever. The lower blade of the knife M' is rigidly secured in a horizontal position to the end of the frame A immediately in front of the rollers, and the upper or cutting blade M is pivoted thereto,

, as seen at z', at one end, While the other end is pivoted to the end ofthe arm of an adjustable crank, P, which is carried by the driving-shaft C, This crank being adjustable, as shown in Fig. 2, a longer or shorter stroke may he imparted to the knife, as may be required by the texture or quality of the fabric or material operated upon. This. crank P is arranged in relation to the cam E, so that the knife shall give its cuttingstroke immediately 'on the rollers being brought to a state of rest after the upward movement of the pawl. m is a spring secured to the frame and resting upon the lower blade of the knife, for the purpose of throwing the end of the fabric oil' from the rollers and in front of the edge of the lower blade M of the knife.

It will be readily seen that by means of this invention equal lengths of the fabric will be fed to the knife at each stroke of the lever D, and that by means of the adjustable graduated abutment g the machine may be set to cut longer or shorter lengths; and also that the stroke of the knife may be regulated and adjusted so as to adapt it to the texture of the fabric operated upon.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, 1s-

1. The combination of the adjustable graduated abutment g, lever D, springs G and h, pawl F, ratchet-Wheel H, cam E, and rollers I and I', as and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. The combination of the lever D, springs G and h,ratcl1etwheel H, pawl F, cam E, and abutment g, with the knife M and crank P, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purposes set forth.

JOHN KENT.

Witnesses JOHN S. THORNTON, JAMES KENT. 

